Fantasy Baseball: Five Random Facts

1. Over his first calender month in the Majors, Yasiel Puig had 44 hits. That is the second most in the history of the game over a players first calender month since Joe DiMaggio had 48 hits in 1936.

Puig is now up to 109 career at bats as he's making a serious case at becoming an All Star. Puig is hitting .440 and slugging .743 as 16 of his 48 hits have gone for extra bases. The Cuban sensation already has eight home runs which is more than Matt Kemp (3), Carl Crawford (5), Hanley Ramirez (7) and Andre Ethier (5).

Yasiel has 15 multi-hit games this year, eight of those games included at least three hits.

latimes.com

One of the most interesting stats on Puig is his first pitch numbers. Yasiel is 15 for 19 when putting the ball in play on the first pitch of the at bat. Due to his historic start, I believe he should be an All Star this year as he's single-handedly made the Dodgers relevant again after a slow start. Since his call up the Dodgers are 17-11 and are currently tied with Colorado for 2nd place in the National League West. I ranked Puig as my #39 best hitter in my most recent Hitter Rankings.

2. Since the beginning of May Ben Revere is 63 for 189 (.333). Revere is now up to .290 on the season with 20 stolen bases. He started the year hitting .200 in May (18 for 90) with just one extra base hit. Prior to the start of the season I predicted Revere to lead the league in steals and if he continues at his current pace he'll end the year with close to 40 steals - which is good, but probably not enough to lead the league. Revere's BABIP is now up to .324 which is close to his career average leading me to believe that he can continue to hit for a high average while providing plus-speed on the base paths.

3. Zoilo Almonte has 16 hits in his first 51 Major League at bats. Almonte has gotten off to a hot start hitting .314 with the Yankees providing them with some energy at the plate. Zoilo has been with the Yankees since 2007 (when he was 18 years old) but is just now getting his first taste of the Big Leagues. "Z" is the real deal in terms of production as many of his underlying splits are similar to what he was doing at Triple A this season prior to the call-up. From a Fantasy perspective Almonte is nothing more than a #5 Outfielder at this point in the season but as long as Granderson is out "Z" is a viable option.

4. Eric Hosmer is now 38 for 122 (.312) with 8 home runs combined in June and July. Hosmer got off to a slow start this year hitting .261 between April and May. Since then he's found his stroke hitting eight of his nine homers on the season over the past 19 games.

The Royals young slugger is now up to .281 on the season but, more importantly, has a 14.8% HR/FB rate.

Last year Hosmer struggled to the tune of a .232 batting average due to an ugly .255 BABIP. This year he's been significantly better in the luck department (.305 BABIP) and getting on base (.334 OBP). Hosmer has the skill set to continue at his current pace but he is still a long ways away from becoming an elite power hitter.

nydailynews.com

I considered Hosmer to be one of the best buy-low hitting option in Fantasy Baseball prior to the start of the season. I ranked him as the 95th best player entering the year back on February 14th.

5. Jacob Turner is the most underrated Starter in Miami. In six starts this season Turner is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. The 22 year old from St. Charles, Missouri has allowed just eight runs in 43 innings this season. The centerpiece of the Anibal Sanchez trade last year between Miami and Detroit has 27 strikeouts and just 12 walks in those 43 frames. Turner has allowed one run or less in four of his six starts this season and in those four starts he's allowed only 22 hits in 29 innings. Here's a closer look at his first six starts of 2013.

There's no doubt in my mind that Jose Fernandez is the future ace of the Marlins; however, Turner is on track to become one of the better #2 starters in the game. Turner is scheduled to take on the St. Louis Cardinals this Friday.

Bonus Fact: All of the players mentioned are between the ages of 22 and 25.